August 15, 2013 FCW.COM
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DHS official under
investigation for visa aid
Alejandro Mayorkas, director of
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services, is being investigated by
the Department of Homeland Secu-
rity’s inspector general as part of a
broader inquiry into USCIS’ foreign
investor program.
According to an Associated Press
report based on leaked
internal DHS email mes-
sages, the IG began its
investigation of the EB-5
visa program last year.
The probe involves visas
sought by Gulf Coast
Funds Management, a
firm led by former Sec-
retary of State Hillary
Rodham Clinton’s brother Anthony
Rodham. Mayorkas is under inves-
tigation for a potential misuse of
authority in helping the company
get a visa for a Chinese investor,
according to AP.
EB-5 visas are issued to foreign
nationals if they invest $500,000 to
$1 million in businesses that create
jobs for U.S. citizens.
President Barack Obama nominat-
ed Mayorkas to be deputy secretary
in June. If confirmed by the Senate,
he would likely lead the department
until a replacement for Secretary
Janet Napolitano is in place. She has
announced plans to resign to lead
California’s state university system.
In the past year and a half, DHS
has lost more than a dozen senior
leaders from its ranks, including
managers in critical cybersecurity
and IT operations. Margie Graves
became acting DHS CIO in March
when then-CIO Richard Spires went
on leave. Spires has since resigned
from the agency.
Michael Locatis resigned his
position as assistant secretary for
cybersecurity and communications
in January, and Bruce McConnell
became interim deputy undersec-
retary for cybersecurity in March
after Mark Weatherford left the
position for the private sector after
16 months on the job. A week after
Napolitano announced she was
leaving, McConnell said he would
resign his position Aug. 10.
—
Mark Rockwell
Sisk becomes
FAS deputy
Bill Sisk has been named
deputy commissioner of the
General Services Adminis-
tration’s Federal Acquisi-
tion Service. He has been
serving in an acting capacity since
November 2012 when the previous
deputy commissioner, Jon Jordan,
retired.
Sisk has been with the agency
for 23 years, beginning
as an intern and work-
ing his way up to become
commissioner of the FAS
Southeast Sunbelt Region
and acting commissioner
of the Southeast Sunbelt
Region’s Public Buildings
Service, according to the
agency. He has also served
as assistant commissioner for FAS’
Office of General Supplies and
Services.
—
Mark Rockwell
Wennergren to retire
David Wennergren, the Defense
Department’s assistant deputy chief
management officer, has retired
from government service after a
32-year federal career centered on
change management and IT.
“I remember when I went to
work for the Department of the
Navy in 1980, and they told me, ‘In
2012, when you turn 55...you’d be
eligible for retirement,’” Wenner-
gren said. “And that just seemed
like forever. And the next thing you
know, the decades have flown by.”
Wennergren, a three-time Fed-
eral 100 winner, was honored with
FCW’s Eagle award in 2006 and has
won a raft of honors from other
organizations in the federal IT
community.
For more, see our Q&A with
Wennergren on Page 24.
— Troy K. Schneider
Nominees named for key
posts at Labor and DOD
In the wake of the Senate’s deal to
avoid filibusters on nominations,
the White House continues to fill
the pipeline with new appointees.
On July 19, President Barack
Obama announced eight more
people he intends to
nominate to agency or
diplomatic posts. Among
them are Scott Dahl,
whom Obama tapped to
be the Labor Department’s
inspector general, and
Jessica Wright, who would
become the Defense
Department’s undersecre-
tary for personnel and readiness.
Wright, who spent 35 years in
the National Guard and retired as
a major general, has been acting
undersecretary since Jan. 1. Dahl
is currently the IG for the Smith-
sonian Institution. He would fill an
important vacancy at Labor, but the
move would create yet another IG
opening for the administration to
address.
— Troy K. Schneider
FCW INSIDER
Scott Dahl
Bill Sisk
HOUSE.GOV/SI.EDU
of Americans think agencies use
the data gathered for anti-terrorism
efforts for other purposes as well
70%